The Salem, Falls City & Western Railway completed this bridge over the Willamette River in 1913. It is a vertical lift bridge. The main span raises up to allow river traffic to pass. Remember in 1913 there was a lot of river traffic. Today the Willamette River is too shallow to allow any major shipping to float up/down river.
The railway started in Falls City then up to Dallas and into West Salem, it used this bridge to connect with the Southern Pacific via Trade St to 12th St, then onto the Salem Train Station. The railway was eventually bought by the Southern Pacific.
Train service west of West Salem was severed many years ago. The last train to cross the bridge was in the late 1990's. The City of Salem purchased the bridge from the Union Pacific Railroad (Successor to the Southern Pacific) for $1 in 2003. The city started construction in 2008 to repaint the bridge and add pedestrian walkways. The Bridge reopened in 2009, but soon closed again for full re-painting. The bridge is now in great condition for pedestrians, but there will be no more trains here :(
Below are some interesting photos:
 |
 |
| First train across the Bridge in 1913 |
Today this would be an OSHA nightmare, what were they thinking?? |
 |
 |
| A huge crowd came out to see this train! |
The bridge long after the trains stopped, but before trail
conversion in 2008. It is fenced off and rails rusted |
 |
|
| Bridge after conversion (2009) |
|
The cache is a NANO. There was a Utah quarter for the FtF which went to GlenMart! These quarters show the Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Utah for the Transcontinental Railroad.